Sleep

Only if I would either quite my job or abandon my family will I ever
get the optimal amount of sleep for someone who trains daily. Since I
have no attention to do either (obviously...) my sleep is limited to 8
hrs per day (if I'm lucky). I could sleep in the afternoon but then the
departure from my job would probably be involuntary. It's reality but
at least I'm enjoying every minute of it 🙂 And if I get too tired I
try to slow down on the training and increase on the rest untill I feel
better. This deosn't of course help you very much but at least you have
te comfort of knowing that you are not the only one suffering. It
wouldn't suprise me if 99% of the age-group athletes with a job and a
family are suffering along with us. Or should we call it "living life
to it's fullest"?

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Only if I would either quite my job or abandon my family will I ever
get the optimal amount of sleep for someone who trains daily. Since I
have no attention to do either (obviously...) my sleep is limited to 8
hrs per day (if I'm lucky). I could sleep in the afternoon but then the
departure from my job would probably be involuntary. It's reality but
at least I'm enjoying every minute of it 🙂 And if I get too tired I
try to slow down on the training and increase on the rest untill I feel
better. This deosn't of course help you very much but at least you have
te comfort of knowing that you are not the only one suffering. It
wouldn't suprise me if 99% of the age-group athletes with a job and a
family are suffering along with us. Or should we call it "living life
to it's fullest"?

I could not express it better. You summarized mine (and many others' as
you said) experience very well. I seldom can get a 9 hour sleep, which I
cherish but for the most part I have to make do with 7-8 hours.
--
Burak
please remove Dot NOREPLY Dot to reply

Ok, thanks. If I have the chance (weekend, etc) occasionally I will
sleep a LOT (10 or 11 hours) and wondered if I was abnormal for doing
that, or even wanting to do it. My non-athletic friends tell me they
only need 6-7 hrs of sleep on a regular basis and are fine, I think I'd
keel over if I did that for more than a day.

-Amie

It used to be that whenever I slept 12 hours I felt horrible the next
day. Now whenever I sleep 12 hours I feel fantastic. I spend the rest
of my time pretty much exhausted, and it's not at all unusual for me to
take a powernap during my lunch break.

What makes it tough is that I want to spend my weekends partying, but I
also want to catch up on sleep, but by 10:00 it's too hot to work out
(I live in TX), and the weekends are really the only time I can ride my
bike. Something's gotta give ... and it usually ends up with me
exercising under the blazing sun. I'll call it race-specific training
for Kona :-)

My friends pretty much know that if it is during the season, I won't go
out late anymore because I have to get up to beat the heat. I
completely dislike running in the heat more than about anything else.
Also, although it is lame, I feel better if I go to bed early and get
up early. Maybe I'm just getting old 🙁

metallifried said:

It used to be that whenever I slept 12 hours I felt horrible the next
day. Now whenever I sleep 12 hours I feel fantastic. I spend the rest
of my time pretty much exhausted, and it's not at all unusual for me to
take a powernap during my lunch break.

What makes it tough is that I want to spend my weekends partying, but I
also want to catch up on sleep, but by 10:00 it's too hot to work out
(I live in TX), and the weekends are really the only time I can ride my
bike. Something's gotta give ... and it usually ends up with me
exercising under the blazing sun. I'll call it race-specific training
for Kona :-)

I have often wondered whether there is any benefit to working out in
the heat - - if one can even handle it. I live in Georgia, where it
gets warm and the humidity challenges your body to keep up with your
need to cool.

I would not doubt that there are mental (placebo) benefits, but I have
come to doubt whether there are any performance boosts, even on a hot
race day.

When I did Kona, I was comforted by the fact that a few of my
Georgia-summer training days were MUCH more uncomfortable; I wasn't in
new territory.

rsquared

rsquared said:

I have often wondered whether there is any benefit to working out in
the heat - - if one can even handle it. I live in Georgia, where it
gets warm and the humidity challenges your body to keep up with your
need to cool.

I would not doubt that there are mental (placebo) benefits, but I have
come to doubt whether there are any performance boosts, even on a hot
race day.

When I did Kona, I was comforted by the fact that a few of my
Georgia-summer training days were MUCH more uncomfortable; I wasn't in
new territory.

rsquared

I was a guinea pig for a study about heat acclimation done at Noll Lab
at PSU. They paired women of different ages by their VO2 max to
determine whether fitness or age determined the speed with which they
adapted to increasing heat. The conclusion was a little bit of both.
Age slows down the sweat response, but the least fit took twice as many
hours over a period of two weeks to adapt. Fortuitously, this was just
before my first IM at Kona. I never felt the heat there at all, I was
so fully acclimated. So, yes, I think there is substantial benefit.

Ruth Kazez

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

rsquared said:

I have often wondered whether there is any benefit to working out in
the heat - - if one can even handle it. I live in Georgia, where it
gets warm and the humidity challenges your body to keep up with your
need to cool.

I would not doubt that there are mental (placebo) benefits, but I have
come to doubt whether there are any performance boosts, even on a hot
race day.

I've read research that says it takes about two weeks to acclimate to
working out in high temperatures. Some books recommend training in
layers if it's a lot cooler where you are than where you'll be racing.

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night,
and party every day.
Then it was every other day. . . ."
-Homer J. Simpson

There are a couple of side arguments to the heat problem that are
interesting.

One argument is that those training in cooler climes may actually have
an advantage over those of us in the (lately) tropics of Georgia. The
argument is that in cooler climes you can train at a higher level
(faster/longer) than those of us suffering in 110 heat index. This
offsets any acclimation advantage.

An argument favoring those in the south is that we learn to train in
the heat and are a bit smarter about adjusting pace to meet the
conditions if it turns out to be really hot.

The last few days down here have been real tests. At 8:00 pm Tue, it
was 89 degrees and 89% humidity. Heat index over 100. Earlier the HI
was around 110.

Fortunately I was scheduled for back to back spin classes, so I got to
stay inside.

Mike Tennent
"IronPenguin"

Before, when I've trained in hotter conditions and THEN done a race in
a much cooler climate/optimal race weather, I generally will PR. I'm
sure some of it is mental, though.

-Amie

Mike Tennent said:

There are a couple of side arguments to the heat problem that are
interesting.

One argument is that those training in cooler climes may actually have
an advantage over those of us in the (lately) tropics of Georgia. The
argument is that in cooler climes you can train at a higher level
(faster/longer) than those of us suffering in 110 heat index. This
offsets any acclimation advantage.

An argument favoring those in the south is that we learn to train in
the heat and are a bit smarter about adjusting pace to meet the
conditions if it turns out to be really hot.

The last few days down here have been real tests. At 8:00 pm Tue, it
was 89 degrees and 89% humidity. Heat index over 100. Earlier the HI
was around 110.

Fortunately I was scheduled for back to back spin classes, so I got to
stay inside.

Mike Tennent
"IronPenguin"

I am a clyde. From my unscientific observations, working out year
round, I pay a 10 BPM (beats-per-minute) tax for working out in the
summer heat/humidity.

So, I get Mike's point. It would not seem that effort expended to push
blood to the skin's surface translates to fitness. Your body has to do
that, even if you are just pushing the mower back & forth.

Again, like Mike, I picked up an indoor summer sport - - karate. It
makes the interval work more interesting and forces me to work on my
flexibility.

rsquared

FWIW: I just finsihed Dean Karnazes book "The Ultramarathon Man" and it
clearly states: "sleep is for whimps" 😉

Guess Paula and almost every professional athlete must be a wimp,
then...

According to Dr Mike Stroud (did the seven marathons in seven days on
seven continents) in his excellent book 'Survival of the Fittest -
Understanding Health and Peak Physical Performance' you can speed up
the whole acclimatisation process by taking hot baths - never actually
tried it, what with living in the UK!

It seems to me it would make sense to do the bulk of your training in
as cool a situation as you can, but spend your taper period acclamating
yourself to the heat.

I'm doing my first international distance in Las Vegas in September,
swimming in 86 degree water and running in (most likely) the 90s.
Seems like not a bad idea for me to work out at high noon during the
couple weeks leading up to the race.

Not really, I think Dean Karnazes is an (extremely fit) lunatic. But
what he does is very impressive though.

Where in Georgia? It does get hot there as I recently learned. I live
in Kauai and when training for IMH I do much of my running in the hottest
part of the day to acclimate to the Lava fields at Kona.. If you intend to
race hot then you must train HOT.

Ken

"rsquared" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

metallifried said:

It used to be that whenever I slept 12 hours I felt horrible the next
day. Now whenever I sleep 12 hours I feel fantastic. I spend the rest
of my time pretty much exhausted, and it's not at all unusual for me to
take a powernap during my lunch break.

What makes it tough is that I want to spend my weekends partying, but I
also want to catch up on sleep, but by 10:00 it's too hot to work out
(I live in TX), and the weekends are really the only time I can ride my
bike. Something's gotta give ... and it usually ends up with me
exercising under the blazing sun. I'll call it race-specific training
for Kona :-)

I have often wondered whether there is any benefit to working out in
the heat - - if one can even handle it. I live in Georgia, where it
gets warm and the humidity challenges your body to keep up with your
need to cool.

I would not doubt that there are mental (placebo) benefits, but I have
come to doubt whether there are any performance boosts, even on a hot
race day.

When I did Kona, I was comforted by the fact that a few of my
Georgia-summer training days were MUCH more uncomfortable; I wasn't in
new territory.

rsquared

Humm, why not but, how do you work out in the tub. I did do cold (ice in
the tub) baths to acclimate to the cold swim in NZ. Got me over the shock.

Ken

"MarkKelly" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

According to Dr Mike Stroud (did the seven marathons in seven days on
seven continents) in his excellent book 'Survival of the Fittest -
Understanding Health and Peak Physical Performance' you can speed up
the whole acclimatisation process by taking hot baths - never actually
tried it, what with living in the UK!

Yeah, it will do no good to just do nothing in the heat. You need to
acclimitize to the heat by building up to as similar to the intensity
as you can in as similar a climate as you can.
-Amie